


what the water gave me

by MusicLover500



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe- Mermaids, BB-8 is a dolphin, Discovered Royalty, Evil First Order Assholes, F/M, Finn Rey and Poe go on a journey to find Finn and Rey's parents, Finn is a pirate for the First Order who has a change of heart, Friends to Lovers, Long Lost/Secret Relatives, Poe is Rey's only friend besides BB-8, Rey Skywalker, Rey is a mermaid, because why not, finn is a prince, other characters I will add later, slow burn kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2018-05-21 03:37:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6036409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicLover500/pseuds/MusicLover500
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn, a crewmate on the pirate ship The First Order, is quickly disillusioned to pirate life and left to drown after the ship’s latest plunder in the coming storm. Rey, a mermaid who has spent her life scavenging the sea and shipwrecks in exchange for safety in Unkar’s kingdom and dreams of finding her parents again just so happens to bare witness to everything. She saves Finn’s life, starting the two down a path that belongs to fairy tales…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had to write Finnrey. Had to. There's hardly any of this pairing!

Under the cover of darkness, a small boat was lowered into the ocean next to the hulking pirate ship. Night was the only time they could even think about successfully getting away with plundering now. _The First Order_ was far too easily recognized, with it’s black painted wood and red sails.

They always did have a flare for dramatic, thought Finn as him and the others on the boat began to row towards their destination. The ship’s captains, Brendol Hux and Kylo Ren, did have a thing for dramatic, especially the latter—or so he’d heard. He’d never met them, and planned on keeping it that way.

He was just staying a crewmate as long as it took for him to save a decent amount up to resume his search for his family. An orphan since birth, the man was finally deciding to see if he could track down any relatives. Thus how he found himself becoming one of pirates aboard the infamous _First Order_.

Tonight was his first time he’d been part of a raid party. Finn was both excited and apprehensive.

One of the other crewmembers held up a hand, signaling everyone to be quiet—they were closing on their target. Silently, quickly, another one stood up and tossed a hook attached to a rope on the ships deck. Giving it a tug, the fellow pirate nodded—it was stable.

Finn was the last one off their tiny boat, having been given the task of tying the rope to the boat so it wouldn’t float away.

He’d just climbed aboard when all hell broke loose.

The calm night was suddenly pierced with a cacophony of shouts, screams, and fighting. Finn just stared at the sight before him. His fellow crewmates had their swords drawn, and were attacking the ship’s passengers. Not just those that were armed—the ones that weren’t as well.

He watched with horror as one of them viciously slashed at a young boy no older than fourteen whom was trying to flee. Luckily for him, the blow only grazed him. But it was enough to knock him off his feet.

Taking one look at the boy’s terrified face, Finn made his decision. Drawing his own sword, he extended a hand towards the boy. For a few heartbeats, the boy just stared fearfully at him until comprehension dawned. “I’ll get you out of here,” he promised, pushing the boy behind him to shield him from view.

Unfortunately, one of his (now former, he’d decided) crewmates saw. “Traitor!” The man snarled, beginning to advance on the two.

“Quickly,” Finn hissed at the boy, practically shoving the boy off the deck and onto the rope that would lead to the boat. To safety. “I’ll be fine,” he assured him when the child hesitated.

Finn had barely just turned around when he was blocking a blow from the man who’d called him “traitor”. The two began fighting in earnest, with Finn on the defensive. His only thought was to give the boy enough time to escape.

Unfortunately, clouds had moved in earlier in the night and were now beginning to drop their rain, making the deck slippery. Something that the man wasted no time using against Finn.

Finn had only a heartbeat to realize what was happening before it did. His opponent had driven him back against an opening in the ship’s railing—nothing to stop him from falling into the sea. And that’s exactly what Finn found happening after a strong hit from the pirate.

~

Rey inspected the chest she’d found in the wreck, taking one item out after another. So far this was proving to be a prime scavenging site. The past few days, she’d found enough precious stones and jewelry for Unkar to extend her living here by a good couple moon cycles.

That was one of things about living in King Unkar’s kingdom—you either brought him “gifts” you’d found or you moved on to find another kingdom somewhere. Rey had no choice but to bring the slimy octopus “gifts” if she wanted to avoid becoming shark-feed. All she’d ever known was life in Unkar’s kingdom; for all she knew, Unkar was the only mer-people friendly king in the seas.

But things weren’t quite so desperate. She knew her parents were coming back for her; one day. She just had to bare it until they did.

Loading up her bounty in the makeshift carrier she’d fastened out of seaweed on her waist, the mermaid began swimming out of the sunken ship and towards the cave Unkar resided in. It, of course, was the biggest cave in the kingdom, and of an ideal enough depth to avoid detection from anyone or anything that might seek him harm (though Rey doubted even sharks would want to get near the slimy bastard).

“Rey!” The octopus greeted, his voice conveying a tone that was meant to be friendly. But she knew it was deceiving. “I wondered if I would see you today.”

“I’ve brought you some more jewels,” she said, slinging off her bag and dumping the contents on the cave’s floor. Unkar’s eye lit up with greed, and all of his tentacles shot forward to grab the pieces and inspect them.

“Hmm…another decent bounty,” he murmured. “Though not quite as impressive as your last one.”

Rey was unable to stop her mouth from falling open. “There’s three pearls in it this time!” She exclaimed, her tail lashing in agitation.

“Well, I’m not as in the mood for pearls as I was,” Unkar told her. If octopuses could shrug, she knew he would have done just that. “Let’s see…I think this is sufficient enough to grant you another quarter of a moon cycle of stay.”

Resentment simmered inside her, but she knew arguing would do no good. So the mermaid merely turned and swum away, back to the small cave she called home.

There wasn’t much in it—just things she’d salvaged that she hadn’t turned over to Unkar. Human things, mainly—a small net she could hold to catch fish in, something that she could run though her hair if she didn’t insist on keeping it in three knots above her head. To the average person, they would be nothing, but to her they were treasure of sorts.

She was about to set out to find dinner when she sensed a change in the sea. A storm was brewing. Excited, dinner disappeared from Rey’s mind as she shot towards the surface as fast as her tail could carry her. Storms were her favorite, as she could safely go to the surface without worry of being seen.

Breaking the surface, Rey blinked to let her eyes adjust before she surveyed the scene before her. It didn’t take her long to realize she was witnessing a pirate plundering. Anger burned deep inside her. Piracy was one of the less savory aspects of human-life. In fact, if it hadn’t been for one particular human, Rey probably would have felt general disgust towards them in general for the sole act she was witnessing. But the human had managed to change her mind and give humans the benefit of doubt. Especially the woman and young ones.

“Traitor!” A voice yelled, loud enough for even Rey to hear. Curiosity got the best of the dark haired mermaid, and she found herself swimming slightly closer. She saw a man dressed like the rest of the pirates…only he wasn’t taking part in the plundering and murder. No, he was practically shoving a young human down a rope into a boat. Saving him, she realized.

As she watched, a man advanced on the one who was trying to save the boy. The two were soon locked in combat. Caught up in the scene before her, Rey hardly noticed the waves getting rougher around her or the rain that began pelting her. But she did notice when the man fell from the ship’s deck with a powerful thrust from his opponent.

The human hit the water with a splash, and Rey realized what the other pirates were doing. Even though it was just starting, she knew this storm would be a bad one—the kind humans usually don’t survive. They were leaving him to drown, or be eaten by sharks.

Without really thinking, she ducked back under the waves, swimming towards the human. He was afloat, but the waves were getting steadily rougher. Soon he wouldn’t be able to stay above water.

Suddenly, the man ducked under water for what seemed to be no reason. Rey glanced up, able to barely make out the form of men on the deck above. Looking for him.

She watched as the human stayed under water for as long as air would allow him. He was beginning to swim upwards when a rather giant wave rolled into him, forcing him back under water.

Rey took that as her cue to do something. The sea buffeted her a bit, but she still managed to grab a hold of the man and pull him back to the surface. The rain was coming down in earnest now, and lightning flickered on the horizon.

The human sputtered and coughed as he expelled the water from his lungs and sucked in air. The moment he became aware of Rey’s arms around him, he began thrashing around in an attempt to get away.

“I’m trying to save your life!” She hissed at him as she did her best to swim away from the ship, the human in tow. The man’s struggles stopped, and she found him trying to peer up at her. Thankfully, the lightning was still off in the distance—not enough to truly give much of her away to him.

“Who—?” The human began over the thunder, but she shushed him. She wasn’t about to let the pirates find him and ruin her rescue attempt.

Half-dragging the human with her, Rey swam as fast as she could away from the ships.

A wave caught the two of them off guard and hit them with enough force to rip the human out of her arms. Diving, she quickly managed to spot him and once again dragged him to the surface. Only this time, he was motionless.

Rey may not know that much about humans, but she knew that was most certainly not a good thing. Not sure what else to do, she shook him, hoping to get a type of response. Eventually, she did. Once more he coughed water up—except he ended up sagging against her. Rey knew that was her cue to get him to the nearest shore or bit of land as fast as possible. She knew sagging was a sign of waning strength, something that usually ended up fatal in these conditions.

Now truly dragging the human with her, she ran over what she knew about the area in and around Unkar’s kingdom. There was a shore a few miles north of here…she didn’t know if it was an inhabited one but from its size there was a fair chance it was. The human would definitely be safe there, regardless. At least for a bit.

Making sure she had a tight grip on the human, Rey began swimming furiously in the direction of the shore.

Rey didn’t remember much about the swim, other than at some point she became the only thing supporting the human’s weight. By the sound of it he had…fallen asleep. Or passed out. She wasn’t quite sure which.

The storm had faded into nothing more than a faint shower of rain, with the moon beginning to peek through the clouds in spots. Rey dragged the human onto shore as far as she dared.

She sat in the shallow water for a few moments just staring at the human. Normally she wasn’t the one to go out of her way to save men (she’d seen enough unsavory acts from them to last many lifetimes)- but something in the man’s actions made her feel like he could be another example for her of some goodness in men.

Shaking herself out of it, she silently wished the human well and began the fairly long swim back to her small cave in Unkar’s kingdom. She would be bone tired scavenging tomorrow, but a part of her felt like it was worth it. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The first thing Finn was aware of was the sun beating down mercilessly on him. Then the rest of his senses kicked in, and he could hear the crashing of waves. He lifted his head and saw he was lying on the sand, a few feet away from the shore’s edge.

He briefly wondered how he’d gotten here when last night’s events hit him. The raid. The boy. Being left to die. Being rescued.

Scrambling to his feet, Finn glanced around to see if his mysterious savior was anywhere. He hoped she would be, because his foggy memory from last night couldn’t be true. He couldn’t have been saved by a mermaid. That just didn’t happen.

But there was no sign of his mysterious dark haired savior. He stumbled along the shore, looking to see if he could spot her. All he found was more beach and sea.

A growl from his stomach tore his thoughts from the girl—woman—that had saved him and towards a more pressing matter: finding substance. Food, fresh water…all things essential to survival.

From what little he’d seen of the…island…he was on, it seemed fairly large—which meant there was a chance it was populated. Which meant necessities.

Willing his hunger to quiet long enough that he could actually find some sort of civilization, the man began walking, angling his path further inland.

~

As Rey went about her daily routine, she found her mind wandering back to the human she’d saved last night. Mainly, about his well-being: was he safe? Sure, she’d saved him from drowning, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t out of the clear yet.

And why did she care so much? Yes, humans fascinated her—largely thanks to, up until last night, a particular one named Poe Dameron who had first proved humans weren’t completely evil—but that was it. She didn’t wonder constantly about Poe when he was Creator-knows-where.

Troubled, she deposited the day’s findings at Unkar’s cave (which earned her half a moon cycle of extended residence) and began to swim back to her own cave, hoping some hunting would help clear her mind.

[Friend Rey! Friend Rey!] A series of excited clicks interrupted her thoughts. Swimming as fast as his small frame would allow him, was a young dolphin.

A wide small crossed Rey’s face at the sight of him. “Hey, BB-8,” she greeted fondly, giving the dolphin a small hug. She had found BB-8 when he was just a young calf, his mother having died during his birth. The mermaid couldn’t just leave him there to become shark-feed, so she’d taken him under her wing and practically raised him. And it was through BB-8 that she had encountered Poe Dameron.

“Where’s Poe?” She asked as the dolphin swan excitedly around her.

[Not far away. He wants to see you.] BB-8 chirped.

It was a testament to how well they still knew each other that with a single look from Rey, BB-8 would begin swimming in the direction Poe was currently stalled.

Rey had first met Poe many moons ago when she had mistakenly assumed he was trying to harm BB-8. The dolphin had just left calf-hood, yet still made sure to come back to Rey’s cave to relieve the mermaid’s fears of his safety. Only, one day he didn’t.

Worried, she had swum out to look for him, her bone dagger clutched tightly in her hand, when she heard the faint sound of desperate clicking. She could immediately tell it was BB-8, and swan as fast as she could to help him.

The young dolphin had been thrashing around inside a giant net. A human was leaning down over it, knife in hand. “Keep still…” Rey heard him mutter.

Red obscured her vision, and before she knew it her knife was slicing through the net and into the human’s hand. The hand jerked back, a deep cut along its side. Rey took that opportunity to untangle BB-8 from the net.

“Hey, hey, I’m just trying to help!” The human said, raising his hands up when she gave him a murderous look, placing herself between him and BB-8.

[He was! Friend-Rey, don’t hurt him! He’s a Nice Human.] The young dolphin behind her clicked frantically. Rey turned sharply to look at BB-8. Truth shone in his eyes, and she warily lowered her bone dagger.

“Why should I trust you?” She asked. She knew what humans were—greedy, unsavory things that would love to get their hands on one of the merfolk for their own sick purposes.

“I was just trying to help your friend out,” the human told her. “I noticed something was caught in the net, so I came to check it out. I was trying to free it when you tried to cut my hand off,” he continued, holding his bleeding hand for reference.

“He,” Rey said sharply. “Not ‘it’; he. His name is BB-8.”

“I was just trying to help BB-8,” the human said.

Behind her, she heard a series of affirmative clicks. She didn’t trust the human—but she trusted BB-8.

“I don’t have to worry about you trying to decapitate me, should I?” The human said warily. She recognized his tone as being one of humor. A small smile crossed her face. Sure, she was wary…but something about her put her at somewhat of an ease.

“As long as you don’t try to hurt me or BB-8,” she answered.

“My name’s Poe. Poe Dameron,” the human told her suddenly, extending his non-injured hand over the side of the boat.

“…Rey,” she replied, hesitatingly shaking the outstretched hand.

Poe had stayed in the area for about a half moon cycle or so, in which both Rey had warmed up considerably to him. He made sure to come back every moon or so to visit with her and BB-8. And a couple moons ago, BB-8 had left with Poe to, in his words, “watch out for Friend-Poe”. Rey had missed the young dolphin, but she was glad he was with someone she could trust to look out for him.

“Hello stranger!” She heard Poe call from the deck of his boat. Breaking the surface, she blinked a few times to find him watching her. There was humor in his eyes. “Long time no see.”

“Poe, it’s only been a moon,” she reminded the human.

“It feels like forever since I last saw your beautiful face,” he answered dramatically. Rey kicked some water at him in response. As she turned around she heard Poe laughing.

She supposed for a human Poe wasn’t bad looking—dark hair, dark eyes, a tan complexion (he said it was to do from his parents as well as sunlight)—for a human. But Poe had quickly assured her any variety of women weren’t his type—she may have given him a murderous glare the first time he’d tried ‘flirting’ with her.

“Like what you see?” Poe had noticed her quietness.

“Shut up,” she told him. He laughed again.

“So,” Poe began, coming to sit at the edge of his deck, feet hanging down. BB-8 swam happily below him. “What have you been up to, Oh Great Scavenger?”

“Not much,” was Rey’s automatic answer, which was true…to an extent. “Well, something interesting may have happened last night…”

Poe’s eyes lit up, and Rey told him the entire story of how she’d saved the man, including how he kept popping up in her thoughts.

“This guy must have really made an impression on you,” Poe commented when she’d finished. “Then again, turning his back on a gang of cut throat pirates is pretty brave. Sounds like my kind of man.” He added.

Rey rolled her eyes, before reverting back to seriousness. “What does it mean that I can’t stop thinking about him? And how do I make it stop?”

“Well,” Poe began. “You could always make sure he’s ok. Yeah, you saved him from drowning, but that doesn’t mean he was completely safe; your conscious is telling you to check on him. Especially since he’s, to quote you, one of the few ‘decent humans’.”

“I can’t do that!” Rey argued. “What if he sees me?” Stories of what humans would do to mermaids if caught ran through her mind.

Guessing her thoughts, Poe gently said, “Rey, if he really is like you described, then he won’t do that. You can just observe from a distance until your mind is put at ease.”

The mermaid thought about it before nodding. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

~

After hours of searching, Finn finally came across a small town. And by small, he meant it was only made up of a general store, a tavern, and a cluster of houses. But it was people.

Immediately he headed for the tavern. A couple people who were occupying it glanced up at his entrance, and stared. The barkeep stopped scrubbing the counter to also stare at Finn.

This continued long enough for Finn to feel very uncomfortable. Finally, the barkeep broke the silence.

“How did you get here, son? No outsider’s have been here in decades!”

“I, uh,” Finn began. “I washed ashore here.” That was the truth—except for the fact a mermaid had dragged him here.

The barkeep winced in sympathy. “I’m afraid there’s no real way to get off here—the next supply boat isn’t due for another few months.”

Finn’s heart sank. An elderly woman stood up and gently took his arm. “We’ll find you a place here, young man. Come on.”

And so Finn learned all about the tiny town—referred to as Takodana by the locals—from the woman whom he learned as called Maz Katana. Maz told him fish was used in exchange for goods, and offered to let him stay at her place and use her fishing gear until he could either get on his feet or get off the island.

Maz’s house turned out to be on the outskirts of the tiny town, enough that Finn could faintly make out the crashing of waves. He followed it, finding himself staring at the ocean, stained orange by the setting sun.

It was peaceful, enough to make him forget that he was currently stuck on an island with no way off.

He decided to bask in the peacefulness a little longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending is probably shit...sorry about that. I wasn't sure how to end it and i didn't want to have Finn and Rey meet only to leave it like that. Expect Finn and Rey to FINALLY interact next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: 

It was testament to how much Rey knew the sea in and around Unkar’s kingdom that she could easily head to the island she’d dropped the human off from where Poe was anchored, even though the two were no where near each other. 

The journey seemed to be much shorter this time around, and the dark haired mermaid couldn’t help the worry that bubbled up. 

She stayed in the shallow water, scanning the shore for any sign of the human. Finding none, she was about to turn around when she heard a voice cry faintly, “Wait! Wait!”

Rey spun around, alarm shooting through her at the sound. She could tell that the voice’s owner was a human male, running as fast as he could towards her…

Panicked, she quickly dived into the water, hoping he wouldn’t try to follow her. Her heart was hammering. She wasn’t scared easily, but every horror story she’d heard growing up was running through her mind. 

She cursed herself for choosing the shallow waters to wait in—they were deep enough that she could completely submerge herself in them but difficult to swim out of into deeper ocean. Her tail frantically churned the sand as she tried to get out of there as fast as she could. 

“Wait! I don’t want to hurt you! I just want to thank you!” The voice shouted, closer this time. She could hear the splashes of feet in the water. 

Pulling her bone dagger out, she gripped it and whirled around, aiming to in someway maim, to buy herself time…

“Shit!” The voice exclaimed, drawing up short at the sight of the weapon in her hand. He raised his hands up in the familiar gesture of surrender. 

With a jolt, she recognized the human as the same one she’d saved last night. She stared at him in shock, the dagger forgotten. The man stayed a safe distance away, his eyes trained on her hand and his hands still up. 

“I just want to talk to you,” he said, a hint of nervousness in his voice. Rey remembered she still held the dagger in a position where she could easily strike him with it. Poe’s words came back to her. 

“Rey, if he really is like you described, then he won’t do that.”

Carefully, she lowered the dagger. The human stared at her for a few seconds before lowering his arms. 

“I want to thank you for saving my life,” he said. 

It took the mermaid a minute to process his words. He had just…thanked her. As far as she could remember, no one had ever sincerely thanked her—except for Poe that one time, but that was for not gutting him when they’d first met. 

“You…what?” She choked out. The human stared at her. 

“I want to thank you,” he repeated. Then, with what sounded like concern, added, “Are you ok?” 

“I….you’re welcome?” Rey finally replied, the last part turning into a question. 

The human’s lips made a small ‘o’ shape. “I’m guessing you don’t get thanked often,” he said. 

Slowly, she shook her head. 

Silence fell, before the human suddenly blurted, “What’s it like living in the sea?” 

Rey gave him a puzzled look. “Why?”

“Because it’s fascinating,” he replied, a smile crossing his face—showing very white teeth, she found herself noticing. “No one—at least, no humans—know what it’s like under the sea; it’s as unexplored as space is!” 

She had no idea what ‘space’ was (something she filed away to ask Poe later) but the human’s enthusiasm…well, it was hard to ignore. Briefly, she searched his face for any sign of deceit—and in the process, she found herself getting her first real look at the human. 

His skin was quite dark (which she found fascinating), and his eyes were dark like her own. And she could find no hint of any hidden agenda anywhere on his face. 

“What do you want to know?” She asked with only the slightest bit of hesitation. 

“Where do you live? What’s it like? Are there a lot of you?” 

On and on the questions came, which Rey answered. As the stars began to appear in the sky, the mermaid found herself becoming more at ease around the human. Something inside her told her she could trust him like Poe—the same thing that had led to her saving him last night. 

Sometime later Rey noticed hunger gnawing at her stomach and remembered she hadn’t ate anything other than a couple of fish before she went out scavenging. Apparently, it was making enough noise that the human noticed. 

“Oh, God, I’m sorry! I should have realized how late it was,” he apologized, standing up from where he had wound up sitting in the shallow water. “I’ll leave you to…hunt?” 

His hesitation at the last word made Rey’s lips twitch in amusement. “That is what it’s called.” 

The human smiled before a serious, almost hesitant look came over his face. “Can I…see you again?” 

Rey stared. This is the first time she’d been asked that by a human (Poe didn’t count; she could always find him by following BB-8). Out of instinct, she almost said no…but she found she did enjoy this human’s company, despite having only just met him. 

She nodded. 

The human smiled. “Can you meet me here around sunset tomorrow?” He asked eagerly. 

The mermaid nodded, returning his smile with a very tiny one of her own. She said goodbye to the human and was starting to head back for Unkar’s kingdom when she heard him call out behind her. 

“Wait; I don’t know your name!”

She paused and called back behind her. “Rey.” 

“I’m Finn,” the human answered. 

Finn. The name was pleasant, and rolled nicely off her tongue; similar to Poe’s name. 

As she reached her cave (she had managed to catch quite a few fish—enough that she wouldn’t have to get up early to hunt tomorrow) and was preparing to get a bit of sleep before going to scavenge, she found a part of her was excited to see Finn again. 

It was nice, talking to another human, especially someone who clearly took such an interest in life in the sea. 

~

Finn stayed in the shallow waters for a few minutes after Rey had disappeared from view, finally letting the last few hours sink in. 

He’d had a conversation with a mermaid. More than that, they actually existed! He’d heard stories, but had always assumed that’s just what they were. He’d started to have his doubts after last night, but had chalked it up to his imagination until this evening. 

A smile crossed his face as he turned and made his way back to Maz Kanata’s house. The young man had sincerely enjoyed his conversations with Rey—and he was eagerly hoping they would have many more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short! I'm just happy I finally got something out for you guys.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

When Finn got back to Maz’s house, it was quiet. The older woman had already retired for the night—something that suddenly sounded very good to the young man as he noticed just how fatigued he really was. 

While he’d been out, she had set up a cot for him, and he gratefully climbed into it, pulling the spare sheet she’d lent him over and falling asleep a few heartbeats later. 

~

The smell of cooking fish woke Finn from his sleep. He cracked his eyes, blinking away sleep as his brain caught up with the sight in front of him. It was morning since the sun was shining through the tiny windows, and Maz was standing over the kitchen fire, obviously preparing fish. 

“When you’re finished eating, I’ll take you fishing with me,” she greeted as he stood up and made his way over to her. 

“Thank you,” he told her gratefully as she handed him a plate with a fish on it. The words,  _ for everything _ , passed unspoken.

A tiny smile broke across the older woman’s face before she turned back to place her own fish on another plate and douse the fire. 

They ate in silence at first, but gradually began talking about their lives. Finn told her how he was searching for his birth parents and he ended up here after accidentally getting caught up with the wrong sort of people in a desperate bid for money.

“You mean pirates,” Maz guessed, fixing him with a look that dared him to lie.

Suddenly having a tough time swallowing the fish he was chewing, he slowly nodded. Immediately he began running ten different scenarios through his head and felt himself start to panic. Surely Maz would tell him to leave now, and spread word to the rest of the tiny island, leaving Finn to flounder on his own and pray to whatever deities there were that he’d be able to figure out how to sustain himself within a few days time…

“I’m not going to kick you out if that’s what you’re wondering, Finn,” the elderly woman said, breaking him out of his thoughts. “The fact that you  _ left _ is what matters.”

“How do you know I left?” He asked, generally curious.

“You’re not the first half-dead person to wash up on this island after running from them,” she replied. “And don’t deny it - you  _ looked _ half dead when you wandered into the tavern.” Maz continued when Finn opened his mouth. 

“You mean I’m not the first person to defect?”

“No. But, that’s a story for another time. We should head out before all the good fish are caught.”

~

Rey was a bit slower scavenging than she usually was. She was still tired, even with the brief lie-in she got. But at least her secret treasure stashes were still a secret to the rest of the scavengers in the kingdom, and she was able to draw from them. 

The mermaid tried not to, saving those piles for days when she was desperate to bring more than a few shiny baubles to Unkar, but she honestly wanted to get done as soon as possible so she could nap for a bit. She only took a few coins and a decent sized gem from one of the stashes, and with the rest of the stuff she’d collected figured she had a decent enough haul. 

Unkar must have been in a generous mood, because he granted her a three-quarters moon cycle stay. If she hadn’t been tired, she would have been doing excited flips in the water in joy; right now, she just wanted to catch a few more hours of shut eye. 

She made sure she still had fish left over before curling up in her makeshift bed of seaweed and closing her eyes. 

~

Sometime later, Rey was awoken by something - or someone - nudging her incessantly. 

[Friend Rey! Wake up Friend Rey!] 

Opening her eyes, she let the fuzzy shape before her solidify into BB-8’s familiar body. He chirped happily at the sight of her awake. 

For a moment, she was fuzzy as to why she was sleeping so late, when the events of the previous day came back. Finn. 

“What time is it?” She asked the dolphin urgently. 

[Almost sundown.] He chirped. [Why?] 

“I’ve got someone to meet,” she explained, swimming past BB-8 and picking up speed the further she got from the cave. “Tell Poe thanks for the advice!” 

The young dolphin sent a series of questioning chirps after her, but for once Rey ignored him in favor of making sure she was at the shore by sundown. Excitement churned in her belly as she sped into deep ocean. The mermaid had always been curious about humans, and now that she had met another human besides Poe (who hopefully knew more about living on land) that was nice… it was second best to finally finding her family. 

The mermaid arrived by the shore just as the sun began to disappear beyond the horizon. Eagerly, she scanned the sand for any sign of Finn. In the distance, she saw a dark shape heading towards her. She hoped it was Finn; still, she prepared to swim back into deep ocean at the first sign it was another human. 

Thankfully, it  _ was _ Finn, as she was able to make out his familiar figure the closer he got. 

“You came!” The man shouted, glee obvious in his voice. 

A smile crossed her face in response; she found she shared his joy. 

“Of course I did. It’s not everyday I meet a human who is interested in  _ not _ making me into a profit,” she answered, noticing as he drew closer that the familiar, mouth-watering scent of fish came off of him. 

Finn blinked in astonishment. “Does that happen often?"

“No,” Rey assured him. “It’s why we stay so far away from you humans generally - it’s not worth the risk.” 

“But you saved my life the other day,” the human countered. “Why put yourself at risk for a human who could do that to you?”

She knew this conversation was going to come up at some point or another. Her tail swished the water around her, turning it murky with the stirred up sand. 

“I saw you try to save that little one. You were clearly with those...pirates...and yet you risked your life to save that boy. Not many humans, in my experience, would do such a thing - especially if they were associated with pirates.” 

Finn shrugged. “It was the right thing to do.” 

He said this so nonchalantly, like it was a common thing among humans. For him, it probably was. 

“And  _ that _ was why I took a leap of faith, as you say, and saved you,” Rey finished. She couldn’t help a small smile. “I’m glad I was right.” 

“So am I,” Finn chuckled.

His gaze suddenly focused on something behind her, and she half turned to see he was focusing on her tail. Even through the murkiness, the dying rays were hitting at just the right angle that the blue scales glistened like sapphires. 

“They’re so beautiful,” he breathed, and she turned back around to see a look of awe on his face. She forced herself not to flush at his words - compliments like that were among the highest form of flattery among merpeople. Finn was human; he had no idea what those words meant. And that gave her an idea. “Are all mermaids tails like that?” 

“For the most part. There are different widths, fins, and colors, but other than that our tails are pretty much similar to each other,” she answered. “Similar to how it is with you humans - you have different skin colors, and yet are all still human.” 

As he continued to stare at her tail in amazement, she decided to bring forth her idea. “You mentioned you were curious about life in the sea. How about we trade information? I tell you about the sea, and you tell me what it’s like on land.” 

The human’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Rey nodded. Finn quickly sat in the surf, not caring in the least the clothes covering his legs were going to be soaked. 

“Ok,” he responded eagerly. “Are there any male mermaids? If so, what do you call them?” 

The brunette’s lips quirked at his contiguous excitement. Finn really was a rarity among humans. “There are. The correct term is  _ merpeople _ , but most humans simply refer to us as mermaids.” 

He mouthed the word “merpeople”, smiling when he was finished. “What do you want to know? I can promise you, it’s nowhere near as interesting as your world.” 

“How do you manage to wear those  _ clothes _ all the time? Doesn’t it ever feel confining?” Rey had always been curious as to why human felt the need to wear something over their skin. Poe had told her it was just something humans did in general, but she wanted to hear what Finn would say.

Finn’s eyes briefly dropped to her chest, where his face quickly flushed and he suddenly looked off somewhere behind Rey. Huh, that was a different reaction. Poe had stared, smirked, and looked like he was about to say something before obviously realizing it wasn’t most likely worth his life. 

“Er, it - it’s just a part of human culture,” the man stammered. “Something that, a long time before I was born, humans decided would it be a normal part of society to, uh, cover themselves. And it’s so ingrained in our minds that us humans rarely see a need to break it.” 

“You humans are weird,” Rey concluded. 

“Well, you merpeople would be considered weird to humans,” Finn countered. 

The brunette was about to ask for more about the human culture when she remembered their deal. “Your turn.” 

Finn thought about it for a few minutes. Finally, he asked, “How many are there of your kind?” 

“Not a lot, that I know,” she told him. “Then again, I’m the only one who lives in Unkar’s kingdom - which is only a tiny portion of the sea - so there could be thousands, for all I know.”

Finn’s eyes softened at that. “Does it ever get lonely?” 

_ Yes, _ Rey wanted to say. After all, the only creatures who cared about her were Poe - a human who travelled all the time - and BB-8 - a young dolphin, who more often than not was following Poe’s boat. “Did it ever get lonely being the only decent human on that ship?”

His mouth opened to respond, before he closed it. “I’m sorry,” he finally said. 

Rey frowned. “Why? It’s not your fault.” 

“That’s no way to live,” Finn answered. “You should be surrounded by people who are like you.” 

“I’ve thought about leaving in search of my parents,” she said softly - something she never shared with anyone. “But then I remember they must have left me in Unkar’s territory for a reason, and that they could come back while I look for them. I can’t risk that.” 

And it was true. When Unkar was being particularly greedy, she had thought about just leaving the area all together and going off on her own to find whomever her parents were. She could hunt well enough on her own, and had her bone knife, and even a spear she had fashioned for herself out of a knife Poe had gifted her. She would be able to protect herself from any shark or other hungry sea creature that decided it wanted to try and make a meal out of her. 

Then she would remember how one of the only things that had gotten through rough patches in the past was the hope that her family was coming back for her. That they would have no reason to be away from her anymore - that she could finally have a  _ family _ . 

“We could do it,” Finn said suddenly, breaking the mermaid out of her thoughts. “I’ve been trying to find my birth parents too - that’s why I joined the First Order. I needed money to get a ship and more leads. We could get a ship, or something, and just take off. You look for your parents at sea, I look for mine on land…”

Warmth spread through Rey. Here was a human, who’d barely known her, and he was willing to set sail on a ship with her in tow to help her find her parents as he looked for his. The idea was  _ very _ tempting. 

She found herself shaking her head. “I couldn’t. Maybe one day, but not now.” 

Finn shrugged. “I’ll probably be here for awhile, anyway.” 

“What’s it like?”

“Small. Much smaller community than I’m used to - but the people seem genuinely nice. There’s an older woman who’s letting me stay with her until I can get on my feet.”

So Finn’s situation wasn’t  _ that _ different from hers. Though she got the feeling this woman he was living with was nothing like Unkar, if the fondness in his voice was any indication. When she asked what the requirements were, he’d given her a confused look. 

“I just help around the house, catch fish, etc.”

“And how much are they worth?” At the continued confusion on his face, she elaborated. “How long does each fish let you stay?” 

“As long as I want…? Or until I find a way off the island or she decides she’s had enough of me.”

“That must be nice,” Rey said. 

“Finn?” A distant voice calling Finn’s name interrupted any response the human may have had. 

“You should go,” Finn said, standing up from where he had sat in the sand, just off the water’s edge. “I’ll meet you here the same time in a couple of days?” Before she could ask why he wanted to wait so long, he added, “You look like you could do with some rest.” 

With that, the human turned and headed deeper into the island, presumably in search of the voice. He was right, though - Rey  _ was _ exhausted, even with the brief nap she had taken after scavenging. 

She quickly turned and headed for deeper water, wondering why Finn made her feel different than Poe. She’d have to ask Poe the next time she visited his boat. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...long time no see. *ducks torches and flying tomatoes* I don't know WHY this chapter was hell to write, but it seems like no matter what story or how much inspiration I have, I ALWAYS end up with writer's block during the 4-5 chapter, and it continues afterwards (just look at my FF.net account for proof). I'm hoping that with The Last Jedi due to come out in a few months, it'll keep my muse active enough I can MAYBE finish this. I did write like eight pages of the plot in school during junior year of high school that I've kept with me so hopefully that'll help. 
> 
> As for my AHS fanfic... I don't know. I'm attempting to update it but for some reason the muse just doesn't want to cooperate. 
> 
> Oh, and fair warning: I started college this fall. So my updates may be even MORE sporadic than they already are. Maybe look for one every year if I'm lucky????


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